Sat.Jan 29, 2011 - Fri.Feb 04, 2011

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Should You Really be a Startup Entrepreneur?

Both Sides of the Table

This post originally appeared on TechCrunch. One of the most common questions that entrepreneurs who meet me for the first time like to ask is, “Do you miss being an entrepreneur? Aren’t you ever tempted to go back and do it again?”. The obvious answer is yes. When it’s in your blood, it’s in your blood. I guess it’s kind of like crack (not that I know from experience).

Startup 384
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Geni Hints At iPhone App

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based Geni.com , the online family tree site, hinted this morning that it is about to release an iPhone application for the service. In a post on its blog, Geni said it was working on the "Next Stage of Genealogy" and showed a brief YouTube video with what appeared to be a Geni application running on an iPhone. No details on the app or release have been otherwise announced by the company.

Geni 244
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Getting Started with a Two-Sided Market Business

SoCal CTO

As I discussed in Matching Algorithm , I end up talking to a lot of startups who want to become the eHarmony of careers, eHarmony of clothes, eHarmony of jobs, eHarmony of tutoring, eHarmony of services, eHarmony of investments, etc. This comes up a lot and if you are thinking about one of these kinds of startups, definitely take a look at Matching Algorithm.

eHarmony 204
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Interview: Ian Siegel of ZipRecruiter

InfoChachkie

Messenger : Ian Siegel , Co-Founder |CEO ZipRecruiter , Former Executive Product and Technology roles at: MyLife, CitySearch, Stamps.com, Rent.com and Pictage. Value Prop Twitter Style : ZipRecruiter enables employers to post to multiple free job boards with one submission – the fastest way to get a job online across the web. If you haven’t already subscribed yet, subscribe now for. free weekly Infochachkie articles!

MyLife 160
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Can You Ask for Office Rent Relief? How to Manage Your Lease During COVID-19

Office leases are one of companies’ largest expenses, and if your whole team is working from home with no clear end in sight, you may be wondering what to do about your lease.

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Making the Internet Smarter at Helping Us

Both Sides of the Table

Recommendation Slicing. The Internet has a problem. It’s one you know well. The signal-to-noise ratio is getting out of hand. In non-geek speak this means that there is so much information out there now it’s hard to separate the good stuff from the rest. We all now visit UGC sites to learn about products & services before we use them.

Help 309
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GotCast Wins Playboy

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based GotCast , the online casting site run by Alec Shankman, said Wednesday that it has scored a casting by Playboy. According to the firm, it is helping to promote a casting call for Playboy's Miss Social, an effort which includes a photo shoot with the magazine. GotCast did not disclose any financial details of the win. The online site helps producers and others find talent.

More Trending

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Recalling the Lateral Arabesque: Losing valuable employees

Berkonomics

Funny how good messages come back in new forms after years of languishing out in the ether. Dr. Laurence J. Peter in The Peter Principle : Why Things Always Go Wrong , wrote in the early 1960′s of the “lateral arabesque”, describing how companies promote incompetent employees sometimes by sending them to another department or division to get them out of the way of progress.

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Interview: Ian Siegel of ZipRecruiter

InfoChachkie

Messenger : Ian Siegel , Co-Founder |CEO ZipRecruiter , Former Executive Product and Technology roles at: MyLife, CitySearch, Stamps.com, Rent.com and Pictage. Value Prop Twitter Style : ZipRecruiter enables employers to post to multiple free job boards with one submission – the fastest way to get a job online across the web. If you haven’t already subscribed yet, subscribe now for. free weekly Infochachkie articles!

MyLife 157
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Hulu Gears Up For Super Bowl Commercial Season

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based video streaming site Hulu said this week that it is again featuring advertisements from the Super Bowl, and will be posting the commercials from Super Bowl XLV immediately after they are aired. The firm said the commercials will be posted on its Hulu AdZone , a special section of the firm's site, which also features the ads from last year, voting features, and social sharing tools.

Hulu 190
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Getting Started with a Two-Sided Market Business

SoCal CTO

As I discussed in Matching Algorithm , I end up talking to a lot of startups who want to become the eHarmony of careers, eHarmony of clothes, eHarmony of jobs, eHarmony of tutoring, eHarmony of services, eHarmony of investments, etc. This comes up a lot and if you are thinking about one of these kinds of startups, definitely take a look at Matching Algorithm.

eHarmony 196
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Web Analytics Wednesday

SoCal Tech Calendar

Wednesday, February 9, 2011 -- Web Analytics Wednesday. Join us for Web Analytics Wednesday, being held during the Annual Online Marketing Summit, at the House of Blues in San Diego. The event, sponsored by SiteSpect, will be from 6:30 to 8:30pm. Tickets to the HOB headliner that evening, the Plain White T's, will be raffled off at the event.

Web 113
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Entrepreneurs Don’t Fear Asking Stupid Questions

Startup Professionals Musings

I’m a big fan of the old adage "There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers." We have all heard questions that begin, "This may be a dumb question, but …" used effectively by smart people who are not afraid of risking ridicule by challenging a questionable assertion from an intimidating speaker. Most people in business seem to expect their leaders just to give orders.

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GraphEffect Gets $2M For Facebook Marketing

socalTECH

Santa Monica-based Focused Labs , which provides social media marketing services, said Thursday that it has renamed itself GraphEffect , and raised $2M in funding. The round came from CrossCut Ventures, Rincon Venture Partners, Founder Collective, Baroda Ventures, Lerer Ventures, Thrive Capital, and angel investors Matt Coffin and Stephano Kim. GraphEffect provides a social advertising platform which helps advertisers gain Facebook fans and Likes.

Marketing 189
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SpeakerText | Video to Text Conversions

Tech Zulu Event

The average video on a website has a half-life of six days. This means that 50% of the videos lifetime views will happen in that time frame. After twenty one days over 75% of views will occur. As content creators, these statistics are daunting. The content of a video can in many instances provide amazing sound bytes and SEO friendly lines that unfortunately never get tracked.

SEO 91
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CloudCamp San Diego

SoCal Tech Calendar

Wednesday, February 9, 2011 -- CloudCamp San Diego. CloudCamp is an unconference where early adopters of Cloud Computing technologies exchange ideas. With the rapid change occurring in the industry, we need a place where we can meet to share our experiences, challenges and solutions. At CloudCamp, you are encouraged to share your thoughts in several open discussions, as we strive for the advancement of Cloud Computing.

San Diego 113
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Ten Questions to Ensure a Viable Business Model

Startup Professionals Musings

You can’t succeed in business without an operational model that delivers value to customers at a reasonable price, with an underlying cost that allows you to make a profit. There are no “overrides” – for example, businesses don’t thrive just because they offer the latest technology, or because everyone wants to be “green, or because their goal is to reduce world hunger.

Sales 98
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THQ Launches UFC Facebook Game

socalTECH

Agoura Hills-based videogame maker THQ said this morning that it has launched a new, UFC-themed Facebook game. THQ said it has tied with Zuffa, LLC to launch UFC Undisputed Fight Nation, a Facebook game based on the mixed martial arts organization the Ultimate Fighting Championship. THQ said the new game allows players to train in virtual mixed martial arts, and compete against current UFC fighters for career milestones and points.

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HQ.0 | Inside PriceGrabber.com

Tech Zulu Event

About a week ago I put the word out about possibly resurrecting an old project TechZulu was working on when we first started the site. Pointing to the one and only published HQ.0, a lot of our fans and readers were excited about it and suggested that they would be interested in something like this. Visit TechZulu for full story.

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Twiistup

SoCal Tech Calendar

Wednesday, February 9, 2011 -- Twiistup. More than just a conference, Twiistup is LA's biggest technology event. Twiistup combines a showcase for innovation, a platform for thought leaders and an audience of entrepreneurs, media and investors all wrapped in a unique, stylized environment that rivals a Hollywood production.

Twiistup 113
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Don’t Be Fooled by Investment Scams For Startups

Startup Professionals Musings

After you have heard a few startup success stories, like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft, you may be tempted to invest some money yourself, maybe by pooling your funds with other investors who claim to have a great track record. My advice is to leave the investing in startups to the professionals (or friends and fools). First of all, despite a few visible blowout successes, the odds of a payback from investing in startups is very low (that’s why VCs look for 10X returns to cover failures).

Invest 92
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Total Immersion Power App for eBay

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based Total Immersion , the developer of augmented reality software, said today that it is powering a new feature for eBay, which allows users to try on sunglasses using its technology. The firm said it is powering a mobile shopping feature within eBay's Fashion app, which allows users to apply virtual sunglasses to their own video image.

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ZooGue iPad Case Review [Giveaway]

Tech Zulu Event

It is contest time! The folks at ZooGue gave us one of their Case Genius V2’s to giveaway. Why do you want one of these cases? Only because it is the most functional iPad case on the market. Visit TechZulu for full story.

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Pokerstartups 3

SoCal Tech Calendar

Tuesday, February 8, 2011 -- Pokerstartups #3. If you work at a startup and would like to network with people in the startup space, this is the poker night for you. Signup soon, as there are only a few spots left! You should have some basic knowledge of poker to play for this event, and buy-in will be at the ramen startup level. The poker game is free and there will be prizes for the winner.

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Location-Based Services are a Bonanza for Startups

Startup Professionals Musings

These days, I’m hearing more and more about Location-Based Services (LBS) as the next big opportunity for startups. So far, it’s just another mobile phone app that tells people where there friends are (Foursquare and Facebook Places), but it’s poised to be a lot more. Internet marketers see it as a better way to target consumers, and even retarget them to close a sale.

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Power-One Selects Phoenix For New Factory

socalTECH

Camarillo-based Power-One , which develops power inverters and other power conversion products, announced this morning that it is opening up a new manufacturing facility in Phoenix, Arizona. The firm said the new facility will eventually employ 350 people, manufacturing photovoltaic and wind inverters. The firm said the choice of Phoenix was because of its workforce, access to Arizona State University, as well as support from Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, the Arizona Commerce Authority, the City

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Twiistup 8 | Presented Live by TechZulu

Tech Zulu Event

TechZulu has been involved with Twiistup for quite some time now. We love startups, entrepreneurs and being able to bring you all the lastest in the startup community. Visit TechZulu for full story.

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Startup Nights 2.1

SoCal Tech Calendar

Friday, February 4, 2011 -- Startup Nights 2.1. Bring your work or awesome startup ideas, so you can collaborate and make it happen. As always, we will be doing demo's for those of you that want to demo your product/site.

Startup 113
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Give Investors an Executive Summary That Rocks

Startup Professionals Musings

Modern investors love to first read a two-page summary of your business plan, formatted like a glossy marketing collateral sheet, with text well laid out in columns and sidebars, and a couple of relevant graphics. This one had better grab their attention, or they won’t look further. You may have already found several articles, web pages, or books about writing the perfect executive summary.

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Twentieth Century Fox Inks Angry Birds Game Deal

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based Twentieth Century Fox has inked a videogame deal with mobile games developer Rovio Mobile , which ties Rovio's popular Angry Birds videogame with the studio's upcoming Rio feature film. According to the two, they will create Angry Birds Rio, a new videogame which is a spin-off of Angry Birds. The deal was inked by Peter Levinsohn, President of New Media and Digital Distribution at Twentieth Century Fox.

Mobile 182
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The Lunch Awards | The Nominees Are In! Cast Your Vote!

Tech Zulu Event

The Lunch Awards are just around the corner and its now time for you to select the winners of this year Golden Thumb Award. For those not familiar with Lunch.com they are a social media website where people can share relevant knowledge and opinions, and create free communities on any topic. Visit TechZulu for full story.

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Entrepreneurship Speaker: James Mazzo, Abbot Medical Optics

SoCal Tech Calendar

Thursday, February 10, 2011 -- 2011 Entrepreneurship Speaker Series. UCI CalIt2. Speaker: James V. Mazzo, President, Abbott Medical Optics, Inc. Contact Goran Matijasevic at goran@uci.edu.

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Entrepreneurs Beware the Burdens of Bankruptcy

Startup Professionals Musings

If you are just plain tired of working so hard, or your startup is not getting the traction you expected, should you shut down cleanly, or just file for bankruptcy and walk away? For those who think that bankruptcy is the easy way out, think again. Bankruptcy should always be the absolutely last resort. The “advantage” of filing for bankruptcy, of course, is that it gets creditors permanently off your back, with no continuing lawsuits, based on funds derived from selling all assets.

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Power-One Revenues Surge On Solar Inverter Demand

socalTECH

Camarillo-based Power-One , which develops both photovoltaic inverters and other poser conversion products, saw its fourth quarter results surge on demand for its photovoltaic inverter products. According to the firm Thursday, it saw net sales of $366M for its quarter ended January 2, up 157 percent from the fourth quarter of 2009. The firm said that for the full year, it had net sales of $1.05 billion, up 143 percent compared to 2009.

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6 SEO Mistakes You Should Never Make

Tech Zulu Event

The basics of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) are really quite simple. If you build a site that is both readable and understandable to the search engines, you're halfway there. Visit TechZulu for full story.

SEO 73
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Twiistup

SoCal Tech Calendar

Thursday, February 10, 2011 -- Twiistup. More than just a conference, Twiistup is LA's biggest technology event. Twiistup combines a showcase for innovation, a platform for thought leaders and an audience of entrepreneurs, media and investors all wrapped in a unique, stylized environment that rivals a Hollywood production.

Twiistup 100
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Want to know why charging $12 / year converts higher than $9.99?

Both Sides of the Table

As many of you know I run a weekly webcast called This Week in VC that’s getting between 25-35,000 weekly views across ThisWeekIn.com, YouTube & mostly iTunes. Yesterday’s show floored me. I consider Gregg Spiridellis a good friend. We’ve hung out periodically over the past few years and I have enjoyed debating many startup topics.

Startup 303